Ruby Dhalla

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Ruby Dhalla, BSc, DC, (born February 18, 1974) is a Canadian politician. She has represented the riding of Brampton—Springdale in the Canadian House of Commons since 2004 as a member of the Liberal Party. Dhalla and British Columbia Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) Nina Grewal are the first Sikh women to serve in the Canadian House of Commons.

[edit] Early life

Dhalla was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, to an immigrant family from Punjab, India. She first attracted international attention in 1984, when she was ten years old and living in Winnipeg's north end. After the shooting of Sikhs by Indian soldiers at Punjab's Golden Temple, Dhalla wrote a letter to Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, urging her to resolve the situation without further violence. Gandhi personally replied to Dhalla's letter, and referred to it at a press conference held months before her assassination.^[1]

Dhalla received a Bachelor of Science degree in Biochemistry with a minor in Political Science from the University of Winnipeg in 1995. She moved to Toronto in the same year, and graduated with a Doctor of Chiropractic Medicine from the Canadian Memorial Chiropractic College in 1999. She now co-owns a chain of chiropractic clinics in Toronto, Brampton, Mississauga and Aurora with her brother, Neil Dhalla.^[2] Dhalla has also worked as an actress, and played a leading role in Kyon? Kis Liye? (translated as Why? For What?), a Bollywood-inspired Hindi-language film shot in Ontario.^[3] She finished second in the Miss India Canada pageant in 1993.^[4]

Dhalla volunteered for Winnipeg Liberal candidate David Walker in the 1988 federal election, and later became a prominent member of the Winnipeg Young Liberals organization.^[5] In 1998, she was elected youth representative of the party's standing committee on multiculturalism.^[6] Dhalla supported Paul Martin's bid to become Liberal Party leader in 2003.^[7]

[edit] Member of Parliament

In May 2004, Martin designated Dhalla as the Liberal candidate for Brampton—Springdale in the 2004 federal election. This decision was opposed by some members of the local riding executive, who had favoured Andrew Kania for the nomination.^[8] When the election was called, Kania and his supporters unexpectedly endorsed New Democratic Party candidate Kathy Pounder in protest.^[9]

One of Dhalla's supporters in the 2004 election was comedian Mike Bullard, for whom Dhalla has worked as a chiropractor. Bullard joked during the campaign that he was helping Dhalla because "all my back trouble is on the right".^[10] She was elected by a comfortable margin as the Liberals won a minority government nationally, and was later appointed to the Standing Committee on Health.

Dhalla was a prominent organizer of the "Canada for Asia" benefit concert in January 2005, along with Senator Jerry Grafstein and singer Tom Cochrane. The event raised money for victims of the previous month's tsunami disaster in southeast Asia.^[11] In October 2005, Dhalla organized a relief effort for victims of an earthquake in Pakistan.^[12] She has also promoted an accelerated foreign credential recognition process, to assist recent Canadian immigrants in gaining professional employment.^[13]

Dhalla voted in favour of Canada's same-sex marriage legislation in 2005, on the grounds that the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms must confer equality on different groups in society.^{[citation needed]}

The Liberal government was defeated by a motion of no confidence in late 2005, and a new election was called for early 2006. Dhalla officially launched her re-election campaign in early December, with Bollywood actor Arjun Rampal as a star attendee.^[14] Conservative candidate Sam Hundal attempted to use same-sex marriage as a wedge issue among recent immigrant voters during the campaign, but was unsuccessful.^[15] Dhalla was easily re-elected, while the Conservatives won a minority government at the national level. She was appointed the critic for Health in the Official Opposition. In June 2006, she criticized Health Minister Tony Clement over a possible conflict-of-interest relating to his ownership of shares in Prudential Chem Inc.^[16] The following month, she described Prime Minister Stephen Harper's refusal to attend an international AIDS conference in Toronto as "extremely upsetting".^[17]

Dhalla speaking to CBC News, during the December 2 leadership vote, at an unknown point before the fourth ballot.

Paul Martin resigned as Liberal leader on the night of his party's election defeat. Dhalla initially considered entering the contest to succeed him, but instead announced that she would support Michael Ignatieff. She was the Ignatieff Leadership Campaign's national co-chair, alongside Senator David Smith and Member of Parliament Denis Coderre.^[18] Ignatieff was defeated on the final convention ballot by Stéphane Dion.

In June 2006, Dhalla informed the Canadian media that the Conservatives had tried to convince her to cross the floor and join the party, as part of a campaign to win the support of youth, women and ethnic voters. She turned down the offer, saying that the Conservatives do not represent her values.^[19] Dhalla later criticized Wajid Khan for crossing from the Liberals to the Conservatives.^[20]

In October 2006, Dhalla appeared on a list of "Top Style Makers" in Flare magazine.^[21] In April 2007, she was profiled by Chatelaine and in the first edition of Desi Life.^[22]

Stéphane Dion announced his new shadow cabinet in January 2007, and reassigned Dhalla from Health to Social Development.^[23] Dhalla has argued that the Liberals will maintain and improve the Conservative government's child-care benefit, if they win the next federal election.^[24]

During a trip in India on January 10, 2008, Dhalla had a purse stolen by two youths who were later brutally beaten by the police. Indian news channel "Times Now" called Dhalla's original comments "shockingly callous" because she said that she "cannot control what the police do … and [she hopes] that those young kids learn from this incident" without any condemnation of police actions whatsoever. Dhalla's comment sparked outrage in India. However, Dhalla later revised her answer, saying that she was taken out of context, had spoken before she found out how the children had been treated, and that she heavily condemns the actions of the police.^[25]

[edit] Table of offices held

[edit] External links

• Official site
• How'd They Vote?: Ruby Dhalla's voting history and quotes
• Parliament Webpage

[edit] Electoral record

All electoral information is taken from Elections Canada. Italicized expenditures refer to submitted totals, and are presented when the final reviewed totals are not available.

[edit] Footnotes

Some information from Dhalla's website has been integrated into this article.